School of Fine Woodwork

Adam Crosland

“As the son of a cabinet maker, I have been lucky to experience the joy of working with tools and timber my whole life. I have always loved making things, and the rest was just a matter of glue, screws and timber, nothing much has changed. I was always designing things, productive & creative but not always technically brilliant.”

In 1994 I graduated from Sydney College of the Arts and went on to working with wood, against all “creative advice” to branch out. My graduating pieces were two chaise longue chairs and later graduated from the University of Melbourne in a Diploma of Education. Any timber dad would throw out at the workshop ended up as something like a toy, a skateboard, or a piece of Wood Art which started to sell well wherever they hung.

Producing simple pieces of furniture, art and teaching are my favourite ways of spending time in the workshop. All the individual pieces of Wood Art are dressed off cuts from Richards classes, from Beech to Blackbutt. Some of these pieces are hanging in Woodwork Galleries in Darling Harbour, Hunter Valley and the Rocks. And with timber becoming a much more precious resource than ever before, I try not to waste my time or timber. I have always believed that timber needs to be appreciated for what it is, not just for what it can do for you.

I have been interested in drawing & design ever since I was a boy, and I recall making myself a Go Kart that was going to out run anything else off the street. However, later that year I was completely out done by my father, although mine had a faster top speed. I have worked on kitchens, bathrooms and the odd commissioned coffee or dining table but when I get the time, it’s usually for a class or a relaxed piece of WoodArt. Working full time as an Art & Industrial Technology High School Teacher, making it hard to find time to spend endless hours in the workshop we all desire. I am now building a timber recycling & storage workshop in Padstow.

My dream is to produce simple commissioned pieces, Wood Art by the square metre according to your wall space, and teaching the odd class at the School of Fine Woodwork. Many of Adam’s Wood Art pieces have been sold from Darling Harbour’s Australian Woodwork Gallery, and Wood Art No.11 200mm x 400mm now available. All numbered original work by Adam Crosland are signed on the back. The source of expensive & rare off cuts is due to a need to preserve as much of the timber as possible. Recycling timber is a passion that you can hang on your wall.